Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Sky holes 2

OK, listen up tonight, because this is crucial. Of all the things I can tell you about drawing trees, this is one of the most important. It is also one of the least used and understood principles in landscape painting. It is called diffraction. Because the light coming through a sky hole is passing through a reduced aperture, it is less bright than the sky itself. If you like, think of the tree as "robbing" light from the sky holes.

YOU HAVE TO PAINT SKY HOLES DARKER THAN THE SKY, OTHERWISE THEY WILL JUMP OUT, RATHER THAN HOLD THEIR PLACE IN THE TREE.

In the image above, I have cheated the sky holes up to the value of the lightest parts of the sky. The sky holes become lights hung in the tree.This it what you get without diffraction. Below is the version with diffraction........

I have photoshopped the image so that the sky holes are darker than the sky around the tree. I stuck a square of the value I used to do that, over on the right of the tree. It is not just a little darker than the sky, it is a lot darker than the sky! If you will compare the two versions, the lower one hangs together far better than the upper one. The photograph does record some diffraction, but I have characterized it , shown that I know about it. In this instance, more diffraction works better than what the camera captured. Our job as artists is often to make things look better than the uncritical all seeing lens of the camera.

15 comments:

Stape- I've known and observed this principle since reading Carlsen many years ago, but I have never seen a better illustration of the point than your photoshoped images. For those who may doubt this, seeing should be believing.-Bob

Stape, great illustration! Love seeing just how much darker - with the little box at the side.

BTW folks... I just got permission yesterday to do an article on Stape for American Artist's Workshop Magazine. I'm shooting for the fall 2010 issue, but that's up to the editors. I'll probably write it this summer.Fun, Fun Fun!

I remember reading about "sky holes" being darker, and incorporating that info into my tree paintings. Seeing how you handle this treegive me confidence to continue this procedure.Might I say, Hi Woodard! Happy to hear you are doing an artical on Stape! I will be looking forward to seeing, and reading this. I know a group of artists here in Minnesota. I tell them to "take alisten to this guy" We all may get neck tattoos!

About Me

I am a professional landscape painter.I make my living painting pictures.
In my blog I show my paintings, offer some of the techniques, ideas and methods I have learned over the years, and talk about how to make a living as an artist. I present some essays on painting, art, and hopefully amuse you some at the same time. I will also tell you about many of the fine painters I have known over the years and some who died long ago. I talk about my training in the studios of R.H.Ives Gammell and about the many artists who have mentored me along the way. I also try to explain what I THINK makes a good painting, and how to go about making one.
If you have just found this blog, I suggest you go back to the earliest posts and read forward. It is now an enormous archive of about a thousand posts. The posts start out with the most basic information and progress towards the more philosophical side of painting. I hope you will find it useful!
.............Stape

Teaching

I do teach and I do travel. If you are interested in booking workshops or having me visit and teach at your institution, school or art association please email me at stapletonkearns@gmail.com I am presently booked for several workshops in the coming year and will be announcing more . If you are interested in attending a workshop please let me know as well.